America the beautiful has warts

America has squandered the good will generated by the World Trade Center attacks. The Nobel prize President Obama got as a freshman president is a distant dream.

The Ferguson police shooting is the latest drama, but if it hadn’t been preceded by so many school gun massacres the world might not be so unforgiving.

After all, no other nation has the power and willingness to help with the latest world crisis, such as Ebola.

But from China to Iran, and in more friendly nations, the world is asking whether the U.S. should be giving them lessons on human rights.
The official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, said, "It (the U.S.) should first fix its own problems before criticizing other countries."
Seven Hong Kong policemen were arrested in the beating of a pro-democracy demonstrator, the BBC reported Wednesday. 

Traditionally, America is what it is, to use a popular expression. Sort of like the French idea that the more things change the more they stay the same.

World outrage may backfire, though there is plenty of criticism of police violence in America itself. The NRA and rightwing gun nuts have plenty of power, despite being disdained by many.

It is a commonly held belief in America that it is the greatest nation in the world, and that God supports it.

For those who think this makes us a laughing stock there is Comedy Central and other cable networks that pierce the egos of the Fox morons and their AM radio buddies.

There is no doubt America is a beautiful and powerful nation, but so are many others. Perhaps none as powerful as the U.S., other than China, but many Americans would be happy to live in Norway or Costa Rica, for example.

The police violence and lack of good medical care for many may not be as much of a spoiler as the growing income inequality.

It has truly become “Les Miserables” with TV the opiate of the masses. The tube is out of the box too, though, as “content” can come from anywhere via the net.

Many have their fingers crossed that in 2016 the growing number of minorities, and the growing number of people facing dim futures, will result in an overwhelming defeat of so-called conservatives.

In the past conservatives stood for environmental preservation, separation of church and state, and other causes now disdained by the Republican party. The GOP barely exists in California.

Marijuana is certainly going to be legalized, along with same-sex marriage. Even the ex-Confederacy is joining in the move to gay marriage. A federal judge added Arkansas and Mississippi to the list of more than 30 states where it is legal.